POV: KAEL
The mountain was coming down.
I shifted in an instant, my dragon form erupting as stone began to fall. Positioned myself over Elara—this changed Elara who held her sister's empty body—and braced against the collapsing ceiling.
Rock crashed against my scales, each impact a hammer blow. My wings spread wide, creating a protective canopy as debris rained down.
Through the Merge, I felt Elara's exhaustion, her grief, her confusion about what she'd become. Felt Morgana's consciousness woven into hers now, creating something neither of them had been alone.
But there was no time to process that. No time for questions or horror or wonder.
Vaerix was still coming.
I saw him through the falling stone—a massive red shape diving with suicidal fury, his claws extended, his eyes wild with the madness of someone who'd lost everything.
"Get them out!" I roared to Theron and the Reborn warriors who'd followed me into the chamber. "Evacuate the wounded! NOW!"
